This is the kind of paradox, I think, of what it is to be a halfway intelligent American right now:… there are things we know are right, and good, and would be better for us to do, but constantly it's like "Yeah, but, you know… ," and "Who cares?" and "It's all bullshit anyway.

About David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his second novel, Infinite Jest (1996). In 2008, David Ulin wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Wallace was "one of the...

More quotations from David Foster Wallace

I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché about quote the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master.

—David Foster Wallace

History

1 Jan 2016 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

This is the kind of paradox, I think, of what it is to be a halfway intelligent American right now: . . . there are things we know are right, and good, and would be better for us to do, but constantly it's like "Yeah, but, you know . . . ," and "Who cares?" and "It's all bullshit anyway.